Music-leaf turner.



M.. VINEYARD.

MUSIC LEAF TURNER.

APPLICATION FILED 111N228, 1910.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

Patented May 30, 1911.

M. VINEYARD.

MUSIC LEAF TURNER,

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 28, 1910.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

Patented May 30, 1911.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

MANTLE VINEYARD, OF MISSOULA, MONTANA.

MUSIC-LEAF TURNER.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, MANTLE VINEYARD, citizen of the United States,residing at Missoula, in the county of Missoula and State of Montana,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Music-Leaf Turners,of which the following is a specification.

This invention comprehends certain new and useful improvements inapparatus for turning the leaves of music or other books, or sheetmusic, and the invention has for its primary object an improvedconstruction of music leaf turner which will enable the performer toeasily turn the leaves of the musical composition being played, withoutthe necessity of using either hand for such operation, and hence withoutthe necessity of even momentarily stopping the rendition of the music.

The invention has for a further object a simple, durable and efficientconstruction of apparatus of this character embodying improved pedalactuated operating mechanisms, one of said mechanisms being arranged toturn the leaves in one direction one after the other, as required, andthe other of said mechanisms being arranged to simultaneously turn theleaves in the opposite direction back to the starting point, either forthe purpose of closing up the sheet music or'book preparatory toremoving it from the stand or for the purpose of again playing theselection.

With these and other objects in view as will more fully appear as thedescription proceeds, the invention consists in certain constructions,arrangements and cornbinations of the parts that I shall hereinafterfully describe and claim.

For a full understanding of the invention, reference is to be had to thefollowing description and accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a rear perspective view of a music stand embodying theimprovements of my invention; Fig. 2 is a detail perspective View of aportion of the upper end of the device; Fig. 3 is a rear view of thisportion of the device; and Figs. 4 and 5 are detail views illustratingthe movements of the leaf turning arms.

Corresponding and like parts are referred to in the followingdescription and indicated in all the views of the drawings by the samereference characters.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed June 28, 1910.

Patented May 30, 1911. Serial No. 569,391.

So far as its supporting functions are con cerned, my improved musicstand may be of any desired construction, type or design, the same inthe present instance embodying a standard 1 which may be constructed intelescopic or otherwise extensible sections, as best illustrated in Fig.1, said standard being secured at its lower end to a bracket 2 to whichthe tripod base 3 is pivotally connected. The legs of the base arerespectively connected to braces 4: and said braces are in turnpivotally connected to a collar 5 which is mounted to slidelongitudinally on the standard 1, whereby the base may be folded upagainst the standard so as to economize space when the parts arepartially disassembled to be stored away or carried from place to place.

The present embodiment of the stand also includes a head-piece 6 whichis detachably connected at its lower end to the upper end of thestandard 1, as by a dowel and socket connection, as shown, saidhead-piece having pivotally connected to it upper and lower lateralprojecting frame bars 7. These bars are mounted to swing vertically soas to lie against the head-piece 6 when the device is folded up, and thesaid bars are pivotally connected at their outer ends to articulatedlinks 8 which, when extended, serve to maintain the bars 7 in properlyspaced relation to each other. The upper bars 7 carry pivoted fingers 9that are designed to extend down behind the musical composition so as toassist in holding it properly on the supporting frame of the stand.

A spindle 10 is secured to and projects upwardly from the upper end ofthe head piece 6, and any desired number of leaf turning arms 11 aremounted to swing about said spindle as an axis, being journaled at oneend thereon in any desired way and spaced by washers or similar devices.Each of these leaf turning arms is provided at one end with a leafholding clip 12, the said clips being of any desired construction andbeing designed to engage the leaves at the upper edges of the latter soas to turn the leaves when the arms are swung around from one side ofthe stand to the other.

The inner end of each leaf turning arm, where it is mounted on thespindle 10, is formed with two detents, designated 13 and 14,respectively. An actuating disk 15 is centrally journaled on a stubshaft 16 projecting rearwardly from the head-piece 6 near the upper endof the latter and said disk is provided (projecting from its forwardface) with two pairs of ratchet teeth, the teeth of one pair beingdesignated 17 and the teeth of the other pair being designated 18. Theteeth of the last named pair project farther from the center of the diskthan the teeth of the first named pair, whereby the first set of teethwill engage the 'detents of the lowermost leaf turning arm 11 (it beingunderstood that one arm is superposed on the other) and the next set ofteeth, projecting farther from the center of the disk, will then engagethe teeth of the upper arm, as the disk is turned in one direction,through two successive movements, as will be hereinafter morespecifically de scribed. In the movements of the disk 15, the teeth 17will successively engage the detents 13 and 14C of the lowermost leafturning arm, said arm being first turned partially around from right toleft by one of these teeth and then turned entirely around to the leftby the succeeding engagement of one of the ratchet teeth 17 with thedetent 14-. Correspondingly, as above noted, the teeth 18 will effectthe swinging movement of the other leaf turning arm, so as to turn oneleaf after the other.

The disk 15 is held under tension against movement in a direction toturn the arms 11, by means of a spring 19, one end of which is securedin any desired way to the disk and the other end of which is coiledaround and secured to the stub shaft 16. In order to turn the disk 15against the tensioning device which holds it, the disk is provided onits rear face with two rearwardly projecting studs, designated 22 and23, respectively, said studs being disposed in spaced relation to eachother and an actuating arm 2%. is designed to contact with said studsone after the other so as to intermittently turn the disk. The arm 24 ispivotally mounted on the upper end of an actuating rod 25 which isguided for a longitudinal movement along the rear side of the head-piece6, as best illustrated in Fig. 1, and a contractile spring 26 is securedat one end to the rod 25 and at its other end to the head-piece 6, thespring exerting a tension on the actuating rod 25 to move it downwardly.The arm 24: is actuated by a spring against a nib 27 which projects fromthe rear side of the head-piece (5 and guides the arm in its movement,and as the rod 25 is pushed upwardly against the tension of the spring26, the upper end of the arm will push upwardly against the stud 22 soas to impart a partial rotation of the disk 15 and effect the swingingmovement of the first leaf turning arm 11, as before described. At thecompletion of this first movement a nick 28 formed in the edge of thedisk 15 will be brought opposite a pawl. 29 and the pawl will thereuponengage the disk and prevent the reverse movement of the latter. At thesame time, the neXt pin or stud of the disk 15 will be brought down to apoint where the next succeeding upward movement of the arm 24 willengage it and consequently said succeeding movement of the arm 24 willimpart a second partial rotation to the disk 15 and effect the turningof the other arm 11. At the completion of this last named movement thepawl '29 will engage a notch 30 that is formed in the edge of the disk15 in spaced relation to the notch or nick 28. Thus the leaves will beturned one after the other. In order to move the actuating bar 25upwardly for the purpose described, the lower end of the bar is arrangedfor engagement by a push paw 31 pivotally connected to the upper end ofa link rod -2. said link rod being guided by the standard 1 and movablelongitrulinally along one side of the standard. The lower end of thelink rod 32 is engaged in a socket inen'iber 33 formed on the upper endof a link 3t. and. the latter is pivotally connected to the rear end ofa foot pedal suspended intermediate of its ends from a hanger 36depending from one of the legs of the base It will thus be seen that asthe forward end of the foot pedal is depressed. the rear end will pushupwardly on the link 34 and link rod 32, and the pawl of the latter willpush upwardly on the actuating rod 25 and impart a movement to the disk15 in a manner previously described.

In addition to the means for turning the leaves from right to left, oneafter the other, my invention embodies, as was indicated at the outsetof the specification, means for simultaneously turning the arms fromleft to right, back to the starting point, thus resetting the entiredevice. This mechanism embodies a resetting lever 37 which is suspendedat its rear end from a hanger 38 depending from one of the legs of thebase 3, said resetting lever being connected at the lower end of a cordor cable 39. The upper end of the cable 39 is connected in any desiredway to the lower end of a rod 4% which forms part of a releasing arm,said releasing arm also including an upper section 41 which is guidedfor a longitudinal movement along one side of the head-piece 6 and whichcarries at its upper end the pawl 29 which is designed to engage thedisk 15. Hence it will be understood that as the resetting lever 37 isdepressed, the consequent downward movement of the cord or cable 39 andthe releasing arm formed by the sections 4-0 and 11 will effect therelease of the pawl 29 from the disk 15 and allow the latter to bereturned to its full extent under the influence of the spring 19. Inorder to return, at the same time, the leaf turning arms, the upper endof the releasing arm is secured to a flexible and preferably yieldingconnecting member 42 which runs through an eye 43 and which is securedto the rear end of a resetting rod 44. This rod is mounted on the upperend of the spindle 10 and is formed with a downwardly extending forwardend 45 designed to engage both of the arms 11, whereby as the releasingarm 41 is pulled downwardly, it will positively pull upon the flexibleconnecting member 42 and swing the resetting rod 44 around in adirection to turn the leaf carrying arms back to the starting point.Obviously, in the movement of the arms 11 from right to left, the firstarm will engage the rod 44 and swing it around to the left, thismovement being in no wise interfered with at this time, owing to thefact that the releasing arm is at the upper limit of its movement. Thedisk 15 is stopped at the proper point in its reverse movement by theengagement of a pin 46 with a pin 47 projecting from the rear face ofthe head-piece 6.

As the standard 1 is extensible, the link rod 32 is also madeextensible, as clearly indicated in Fig. 1, and for the same reason thecord or cable 39 is arranged to be secured to the rod 40 at two of itspoints in the length of the pull cord, as also clearly illustrated insaid view.

The detail operations, movements and functions of the different parts ofmy improved music stand and leaf turning apparatus, have been describedin connection with the construction and arrangements of the parts, and Itherefore deem it only necessary to now generally describe theoperation.

When a piece of music is placed on the frame of the stand, its leavesare engaged by the clips 12 of the leaf turning arms 11, said armsbeing, of course, swung around to the right. When it is desired to turnone of the leaves, it is only necessary for the performer to pressdownwardly upon the pedal 35, whereupon the arm 24 will be pushedupwardly against the stud 22 and effect a partial rotation of the disk15. This first movement of the disk will cause the ratchet teeth 17 toengage the detents 13 and 14 respectively, of the lowermost leaf turningarm, and the first leaf will thus be turned over, the disk 15 beingcaught at the completion of such movement by the pawl 29. When it isnecessary to turn over the next leaf of the musical composition, asucceeding downward movement of the pedal 35 will complete the turningmovement of the disk 15 in the same direction, the arm 24 engaging thestud 23 in this completed movement and causing the teeth 18 of the diskto engage in succession the detents 13 and 14 of the next turning arm soas to swing the latter from right to left. In order to restore the partsto their initial position, it is only necessary for the erformer todepress the resetting lever 3'f whereupon the pawl 29 will be releasedfrom the disk 15, the disk will be permitted to rotate rearwardly and atthe same time the downward movement of the releasing arm which is formedby the rod 40 and section 41, will draw upon the flexible connectingmember 42 and swing the'resetting rod 43 around to return the leafturning arms.

Preferably, the upper bars 7 of the supporting frame are provided withspring clips 7 designed to extend down over the upper edge of the coversheets of the musical composition so as to assist in holding it on thestand.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

1. A music leaf turner, embodying a supporting stand, leaf turning armsmounted to swing on said stand, a ratchet disk carried by the stand andarranged to engage one arm after the other to swing it in one direction,means for imparting two successive movements to said disk so as to firstswing one arm and then the other, means for automatically engaging andholding said disk sta- 1 tionary at the completion of each of saidmovements, means tending to turn the disk in the opposite direction,means for releasing the disk holding means from the disk, and meansoperable by the releasing movement of the disk holding means, forswinging said leaf turning arms in the opposite direction.

2. In a music leaf turner, a supporting stand, leaf turning arms mountedto swing on said stand, each of said arms being formed at its pivotedend with two detents, a ratchet disk provided with a plurality of teethdesigned to engage said detents in succession whereby, by two successivemovements of the disk, the arms will be swung in one direction, oneafter the other, a pawl adapted to engage the disk at the completion ofthe swinging movement of each leaf turning arm, means tending to returnthe disk to its initial position, a resetting rod arranged to engageboth arms, and an operative connection between said pawl and theresetting rod, arranged to move the latter in a direction to return theleaf carrying arms to their initial position upon the movement of thepawl in a direction to release the disk.

3. In a music leaf turner, a supporting stand, leaf turning arms mountedto swing on said stand, a ratchet disk engaging said arms to swing themone after the other in one direction, a pawl adapted to engage said diskto hold it at the completion of its movement, means tending to returnthe disk to its initial position, a resetting rod in engagement withsaid arms and movable in a direction to return them to their initialposition, a support upon which the resetting rod is pivotally mounted,and a flexible connection between the pawl and the resetting pin, forthe purpose specified.

4. In a music leaf turner, a supporting stand, leaf turning arms mountedto swing on said stand, a ratchet disk engaging said arms to swing themone after the other in one direction, a pawl adapted to engage said diskto hold it at the completion of its movement, means tending to returnthe disk to its initial position, a resetting rod in engage ment withsaid arms and movable in a direction to return them to their initialposition, a support upon which the resetting rod. is pivotally mounted,and a yielding flexible connection between the pawl and the resettingpin, for the purpose specified.

5. In a music leaf turner, a supporting stand, leaf turning arms mountedto swing on said stand, a ratchet disk arranged to engage said arms oneafter the other to swing them in one direction, the disk being providedwith spaced studs, a reciprocating actuating arm designed to engage onestud after the other to impart two successive partial rotations to thedisk, means for actuating the said reciprocating arm, and means forholding the disk stationary at the completion of each movement.

6. A music leaf turner, embodying a sup porting stand, leaf turning armsmounted to swing on said stand, a ratchet disk operatively connected tosaid arms to swing them in one direction one after the other, the diskbeing formed with spaced studs, a spring pressed actuating arm designedto engage said studs one after the other, means for holding the diskstationary after each of its movements, an actuating rod carrying saidspring pressed actuating arm, a push pawl engaging said rod to move thesame in one direction, means tending to return the leaf turning arms,that is, to move them in the opposite direction, and pedal actuateddevices operatively connected to said push pawl.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

EDWARD G. MULRoNnY, Gno. F. ULLRIGH.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C.

